I found myself thinking a lot about “Sixteen Candles” while watching “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” Both movies, after all, feature an underappreciated protagonist celebrating a birthday (in this case, Aussie actor Ed Oxenbould in the title role), a sister hopped up on meds, a snooty prom queen, vehicular mischief, and parents who — when all is said and done — love their kids even if they get lost in the craziness of day-to-day minutiae.
What’s missing from “Alexander” is the craziness; we understand that a live-action Disney comedy is going to be blandly wholesome and tucked away in the cozy Toluca Lake cul-de-sacs that have provided the studio’s locations since the days of “Flubber.”